Just ordered loads of each! Can’t wait to hear the difference.

All my Christmas shopping now done. Thanks!

Married life is fantastic!

17 years so far.

Frankenstein – Member
Classic car! Very nice O.P.

Thank you Frankenstein!

Happy to report that we’ve just been out in it and the tickover was fine this time. Gets a few looks from people and it was very nice when someone came over and said ‘That’s nice’ and had a chat!

Planning to take it to Prescott Hill Climb and the Goodwood Revival (or Festival of Tweed’ as a friend put it) if possible.

If anyone has a spare wheel for it I’d be very pleased to make them an offer…

Handy, CFH, thanks. Just so happens we have an M and S at our new local garage!

jools182 – Member
Thought you would be able to get one for around 2 or 3 grand

Happy to confirm that that is the case.

Expect to spend another grand or so fettling it but you can get a viable, useable car for what you thought.

I can put you in touch with the guys we bought ours from if you are interested. I’m sure they’d be happy to try to source one for you.

simons_nicolai-uk – Member
They’ve always been top of my list as a stylish classic that won’t encourage me to speed.

lovely.

Nope, not quick but has a reasonable turn of speed if you floor it.

Currently won’t tick over when hot but hoping it just needs its mixture adjusted or something easy like that.

We love it! 280SLC is next on the list when this one’s fixed…

@jools182 – what’s the budget?

CB400F – Honda 400/4. Lovely thing. Sold it for about £300…

Thanks Captain!

It appears that Jalopy is no more, beermonster.

timber – Member
Eclectic taste in cars.
My searches include everything from Pandas to Range Rovers.

I can recommend you someone who has everything from Trabants to Jaguars for sale – and an Austin Princess! Also a very nice 3.6 XJS… Fancied the XJS, too…

That will be about £700 to fill the fuel tank then! Sadly, I’m out… Very nice though. If you have to ask the price, and all that…!

timber – Member
They keep coming up in my searches for alternatives to replace the 944.

Quite a different sort of car, I should think.

Always fancied a 944 but this was too good to turn down.

The botanical gardens are good but I wouldn’t bother with Amsterdam again. Delft is gorgeous. Bourtange is good if you’re in Drenthe, as are the hunebeds up that way. Camp Westerbork is an interesting visit, too. There’s a nice chateau not far from Stadskanaal as well…

LoCo – Member
Have been looking at those lately too lovely and bomb proof if looked after

Go for it LoCo – insurance just over a hundred quid for 3000 miles per year fully comp (£50 excess, £70 for the windscreen, agreed value) from Ageas via Footman James). Cheap as chips to buy the car if you are prepared to spend a few quid fixing it and looks great we think!

£230 per year to tax – ten years too young to be tax exempt, sadly. Still, that’s only £20 per month!

Also, leaky sunroof (very common, apparently) has been sealed up – but will be fixed in due course. Bodywork first, then interior, then…

Bodywork – some rust in the wings etc and the interior needs fettling but nice otherwise. Full service just done (including brake fluid and coolant replacement plus spark plugs etc) and a new MOT.

Picture replaced…

Yes – agricultural ties. Would be very careful buying a house with same. Mortgage companies were not keen a few (20) years ago. Worth checking…

Not especially flash, but the White Hart in Brasted has some very interesting and topical history… Was a Vintage Inn last time we went – fairly reliable – but it was a long time ago.

whatnobeer – Member
I saw today Labour were asking the SNP do help them out and to vote down the amendments. This would traditionally be legislation that they’d leave well alone as it pretty clearly England/Wales only. It’s amazing that Theresa May can one on hand say they won’t vote against the welfare reforms as they don’t want to go against the public (WTF are you in opposition for then?) and at the same time have someone else in the party asking the SNP to break form their usual abstinence and help them out.

You might just have meant Harriet Harman not Theresa May – sadly, Theresa May is still Home Secretary…

As for the hunting ban, I distinctly remember seeing signs up in woodland around here warning of snares just after the ban came into force. Two days to die in a snare? Nice…

Fleshlight.

Hamlet miniature cigars. Now need another. Thanks for that!

I will bite!

Not sure this is a troll but I think there is a great difference between wars that were fought years ago – WWI, WWII – and actions taking place now. Iraq in particular.

We visit many Commonwealth War Graves commission cemeteries out of respect for those who fought and died. Some of those graves are those of people to whom we are related. I don’t think we are red-faced and shouty type people… Our visits are to remember these people whether we are related to them or not.

End of.

richmars – Member
That’s news to me. You restricted taking photos in France?
I understand (it was on the internet so must be true) that you can’t take pictures of the Eiffel Tower at night. (The lighting display is copyrighted)

My understanding is that it’s ok to take photos but not to post them on social media or for sites like Wikipedia to use them as they could be used for commercial purposes.

Don’t understand whether the ‘authorisation’ needs to come from the owner of the picture or the owner of the copyright of the artwork…

irc – Member
Another reason to leave the EU. Make Uk laws in the UK.

Not…

If the information in the link above is correct it would appear to show that democracy is alive and well in the EU…

We paid for a Golf from Sixt with a Nationwide credit card for a holiday in February. We put a small scratch in the rear bumper and admitted to it. More importantly the place was so hilly that driving out of junctions scratched the skirts of the car.

Got charged €440 under duress at the airport for two new bumpers! (Having argued the toss and got it down from €600 – so obviously they were just trying it on).

When we got home we argued that the car was not fit for purpose if it couldn’t be driven in the town without scratching the skirts and Sixt just would not listen and kept insisting that it was damaged during our rental and we would have to pay up – the money having been blocked off on MrsJulianA’s credit card.

Nationwide kept fighting our corner and nearly six months later the block was quietly removed from the credit card.

Moral of our story: don’t use Sixt and pay with a credit card from a company who will fight your corner!

A few months later we hired a car in Crete and the company (a different one, obviously – Europecar I think) were just so laid back and said ‘We only look for real damage and not for minor stuff’. Such a difference.

Always happy to tell the story about Sixt after that experience!

We loved Hotel Le Sainte-Beuve. Small rooms but oh so chichi. Nice walk to the Seine through Les Jardins du Luxembourg and on or a short ride on the Metro. Parking will be expensive, but that’s capital cities for you. Good restaurants around. I don’t think anything decent in Paris is going to be cheap!

Have a great trip!

I appreciate that sometimes clip on ties are necessary for safety reasons, but otherwise…

Shocked to have found a split infinitive on the Debrett website. Standards are slipping.

Oh, and do people really wear clip on bow ties? I thought they were novelty items.

Respect other people and their possessions. It’s bloody important to treat people with dignity and decency.

This. Not enough of it around in Britain.

I would so like one of the original Octavias! I’ve driven the old Estelle (I think it was) and rather liked it.

Wanders off to carandclassic to see what’s about old Octavia-wise…!

[edit] Nothing!

Sandwich – Member
Check with a main dealer to see if the coil packs have been replaced under a recall notice. There have been problems with the ones fitted to cars of that era. If they have previously been done by an independent it will cost, otherwise a free one from Audi.

I had two coil packs replaced by an independent and Audi still replaced all six for free as they hadn’t been done under the product enhancement scheme. Thanks to Colbournes in Basingstoke for the replacements and to BikeBouy for tipping me off!

3 litre manual A4 Cabrio will do 32mpg on a run (best was 37mpg on a rather slow day on the A34, worst is about 23mpg going into town and back). Now on 104,000 and a bit miles (I have seen similar cars on AutoTrader with 150,000 plus) and still lovely. 3.2 litre a little more thirsty but nothing to write home about. Mine is cheaper on petrol than my old 1.8 Passat with petrol prices the way they are at the moment (but who cares when a V6 sounds so good!)

17,000 miles from the front tyres, rears currently on 24,000 and a good few miles left in them. Really not expensive cars to run and very, very nice. Well, I love mine, anyway.

Enjoy!

You might also find that if you lock or unlock with the key and hold the key turned for a few more seconds the windows will all open or close, plus the sunroof if there is one. I like this feature!

You don’t state the age of the car, but here’s a thought: if you try unlocking again on the drivers side do the rest of the doors unlock?

I had a courtesy Golf which drove me mad as only the driver’s door would unlock on first press of the key fob – then I discovered that two presses unlocked the rest of the doors.

It’s a safety feature – God forbid anyone should be chasing you or your Mrs but wouldn’t you be glad if only the driver’s door opened as you were trying to get into the car?

Seems like a good feature to me, if that’s what it is!

ciderinsport – Member

Looks like I might have got a proper bargain

Looks like it! Sounds great – enjoy!

Not queuing, but looking forward to it!

Presumably the weather’s going to be distinctly changeable for the next fortnight then?

gofasterstripes – Member
Scotland: take us with you!

(I’m Cornish)

Stay put for a bit and when my plan comes to fruition you will be linked to civilation! You will thank me in the end.

td75 – Member
So discounting all engines with cambelts. Which diesel engines have chains then? I know the 2.2 in a Saab is chain driven

Not sure, but you might be ruling out quite a lot of cars!

Cam belt change is around £350 in my experience (should include water pump change as well). Should be good for 60,000 – 70,000 miles – still seems like a bargain. (My experience is with VAG – other makes are available (I think)).

td75 – Member
So whats the ideal spend on a bangernomics car then? £1000. Do you change the cambelt on them? Or just run them into the ground?

If you don’t change the cam belt (assuming it’s due to be changed) and it fails then your car has just written itself off!

mikewsmith – Member
Yeah I think most of the recent ones have been down south The French do seem to have a flair for the dramatic with this sort of thing.

Well of course the new wall will go to the south of London (probably it will follow the course of the M25). I think Hadrian’s had his time now – the new wall will be called ‘Julian’s Wall’. I think that has a nice ring to it.

MrSmith – Member
Easy access to civilisation via the channel tunnel
Got to applaud their attitude towards big banks and fast food outlets like McDonalds, over here a riot is an excuse for the local intelligentsia to steal huge chav TV’s and ‘sportswear’ that will nether see a track/field/court.

As it happens we picked up a lovely new DVD player when the rioting was on!*

Sorry, Cougar – had a very bad time with a Lancastrian with whom I worked. Coloured my judgment rather…

*Purely coincidental timing – naturally we paid for it!

Temporary glitch, Mike.

Can’t be bothered to find pictures of all the riots there have been in Britain…